Knitting-machine.



No. 690,!57. Patented Dec. 3|, l90l. 0. LAMWERS. KNITTING MACHINE.

(Application flied Apr. 5, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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No. B90,I57. Patented Dec. 3|, I901.

0., LAMWEBS. I

KNITTING MACHINE.

(Application filed Apr. 5, 1901.) (No Model.) -2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

WITNESSES INVENTOR, M MW ATTORNEYS? THE nnnms wrrzns co, mow-urnsWASHINGTON, n. c

Unirrnn STATES ATET rrrcn.

KNITTING- NEW JERSEY,

I ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND KNER AND ROSA LAMVVERS, OF PAT- MACHINE.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 690,157, dated December31, 1901.

Serial No. 54,509. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OTTO LAMWERS, a subject of the Emperor of Germany,residing in Paterson,in the county of Passaie and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knitting-Machines;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being badto the accompanying drawings, and to letters and figures of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention consists in an improved construction of thread or yarnfeeding mechanism for knitting machines, and especiallystraight-knitting machines of the Lamb type, the object being to providean improved construction of means for rendering the machine capable ofsupplying both of its sets of needles instead of but one, as in manymachines at present in use, with yarn each time the carriage is shifted.The invention further consists in a peculiar form of needle-latchopeningmechanism adapted to be used especially in connection with my improvedthread or yarn feeding mechanism.

The invention is designed for use in connection particularly with theknitting-machine described and claimed in my copending application,filed November 17, 1900, and hearing Serial No. 36,809.

- The invention is fully illustrat 5 companying drawings, wherein Figurel is a top plan view of a knittingmachine provided with my improvedthread or yarn feeding mechanism. Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation ofsaid thread or yarn feeding mechanism. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of aportion of one side of the carriage of the machine, showing one part ofsaid thread or yarn feeding mechanism. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of aportion of the other side of said car- 5 riage, showing the other partof said thread or yarn feeding mechanism. Figs. 5, 6, 7, S,

and 9 illustrate details of the invention.

In order to produce circular goods in the ed in the acor yarn feedingmechanism is arranged to supply one set of needles when the carriagemoves over and the otherset of needles when the carriage returns. In myimproved construction I duplicate the feeding mechanism, and while each4 mechanism is arranged to alternately supply the sets of needles saidmechanisms work together-that is to say, in the movement of the carriagein either direction one mechanism is supplying one set of needles whilethe other mechanism is supplying the other. Inasmuch as the machine isadapted to work as the ordinary Lamb machine worksthat is to say, withbut a single yarn-feeding mechanism instead of a double yarn-feedingmechanisml arrange one of the yarn-feeding mechanisms so that it may bethrown entirely out of action. This one I hereinafter term theauxiliaryyarn-feeding mechanism to distinguish it from the other one,which I term the main yarn-feeding 7o mechanism. Todistinguish theyarn-guides, which form the principal parts of these mechanisms,l termthe one the main yarn-guide and the other the auxiliary yarnguide.

In the accompanying drawings, a designates the frame of the machine, thesame being provided with runways Z), on which moves a carriage c, whichis adapted to be reciprocated from a revoluble shaft d, journaled insaid frame at one end of the latter bya crank e, which is connected witha stud f on the carriage by a pitman g. The needle-heds h are arrangedin the usual parallel inclined disposition in the frame a, and directlyover them and carried by the carriage 0 move the cam-boxes i t. At) inFig. 1 are designated in dotted lines the paths which, receiving thelugs or toes 7a, with which the needles are, as usual, provided, andhavingincurvations sufficient for the purposes of illustrating the 0present invention, serve to actuate said needles, elevating the same asthe carriage sweeps over them in a sort of wave-like motion. it denotesthe said needles. The camboxes are secured to arched platesZ,'constituting the transverse portions of the framing of the carriage0, preferably by bolts m. The

ordinary Lamb knitting-machine, the thread cam-box t is adapted to beshifted out of di- 8 in the lever.

rect opposition to the cam-box t for a purpose .hereinafter explained,and to this end its arched plates, is provided, the same being connectedwith one of the bolts m, which extends through a slot q in said lever.

The main yarn-feeding mechanism is best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. r is anoscillatory lever having a slot 3 at one end, through which projects ascrew t, which is mounted in the cam-box 'i, the free or upper end ofthis lever being bent downwardly and provided with thread-eyelets u, thelower one of which moves in alinement with the upper or acting ends ofthe knitting-needles when in their normal elevated or thread-receivingpositions. On the upper edge of the cam-box t' is secured a guide 0),against the upper edge of which a pin to on the arm is held by a spring00, which presses against a boss g on the slotted end of the lever. Theguide is slotted longitudinally and horizontally, and the lever projectsthrough it, as seen in Fig. 2, its movement being thus rendered true. Ona stud z, projecting from this lever, is pivoted an arm 1, which is intwo pivot-allyconnected parts 2 3, the free part 3 thereof being helddownwardly by a plate-spring 4, projecting from the stud. In a lug 5 onthe lever is piyotally mounted a T-shaped trip 6, whose head 7 takesunder the free end of the part 3 of the arm, the tree portion of itsshank after being extended through the lug 5 being turned downwardlythrough a transverse slot The part 3 of the arm presses downwardly onthe head of the trip, engaging either the one or the other of its ends,and thus normally tilting it. It carries a downwardly-projecting pin 9,which is adapted to be received by a slot 10 in the guide. 11 11 denotetwo stops projecting from the guide and adapted to limit the movement ofthe lever r. 12 denotes a stop in the form of a removable pin. On eachof the uprights 13 13 I arrange a detent 14, which is adapted to engagethe shank of the trip, so as to oscillate the latter in its bearing inthe lug 5. Whenever the trip is oscillated, that end of its head whichwas last lowermost is of course now elevated, which thus elevates thepart 3 of the arm, so to withdraw its pin from the slot in the guide andpermit the free end of said part 3 to slide down the head thus set atits other inclined position. the same time the oscillation of the tripeffects a shifting of the lever, which when it has moved far enoughpermits the arm to drop back in position, with its pin on the other sideof the lever and in the slot. Thus with each vibration of the lever saidlever is locked securely in position. The detents H are pivoted in theuprights projecting inwardly therefrom, and their free ends are heldslightly above the horizontal by springs 15. Since the head of the tripis normally held in either of two inclined positions by the part 3 ofthe arm 1, the trip will always approach each detent from the inside,with its lower end foremost; but when it engages the elevated free endof one of the detents it is shifted and as the carriage continues tomove wipes over the detent. When it returns, its lower end,which is nowagain foremost, is not again shifted by said detent, but by virtue ofthe inclining and elastic mounting ofthe latter passes unactuated overthe same, its shifting not occurring again till the other detent is metwith.

The auxiliary yarn-feeding mechanism is best shown in Figs. 2 and 4. 16is a lever which is also oscillatory, having a longitudinal slot17,which receives a pin 18, extending from the cam-box i. On the cam-boxt" is mounted a plate 19, having a V-shaped slot 20, in which works astud 21 on the lever. A wire spring 22, which is coiled about a stud 23and which at one end bears against the plate 19, is connected to thelever at its other end by a link 2t, said spring thus acting to throwthe lever outwardly. At its free end this lever carries a head 25, whichis pivoted thereto and has thread-eyelets 26, arranged the one above theother. Said head'may also have an auxiliary thread-eye 27 between theother two. This thread-guide is adapted to be shifted by detents 28 onthe uprights 13 13, which detents pawls 29, pivoted in a block 30 on thelever,are arranged to strike. The pawls are pressed inwardly against thesides of the lever by springs 31. The detents 28 are pivotally mountedand are normally heldelevated by springs 32, though they are capable ofyielding in either direction. The tension of the springs 32 is such thatthe detents offer sufficient drag to the thread-guide to shift the same,but not enough so that after the threadguide has reached its extreme ofmovement it cannot be forced past the detents as the carriage proceedsin its movement. When it is desired to use the main thread-guide, theauxiliary one may be thrown out of operation by breaking off the threadwhich it feeds, throwing its headinto the position shown in dotted linesin Fig. 2, while the whole threadguide is moved over to the positionshown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. In order that the pawls 29 maybe thrownout of their usual path and so prevented from engaging the detents atthis time, I provide a cam or spreader 33, which is pivoted between thefree ends of the pawls and may be turned by a thumb-screw 34 to spreadthem and thus elevate them. The main thread-guide leads in bothdirections in which the carriage moves. The ob ject, therefore, of theV-shaped slot 20 is to withdraw the feeding end of the auxiliarythread-guide, as when each thread-guide is shifted they pass each other,and so the two threads are not interfered with. When the thread-guidesare working together, the free or outer end of the main thread-guide isal- IIO being always foremost.

ways foremost. The position of the other thread-guide is always just thereverse of that of the main thread-guide-that is to say, it assumes atrailing position, its pivoted end cam-box i is an arm 35,which carriesa flaring blade 36,whose points are adapted to open the latches of theknitting-needles, and thus insure said needles taking the thread. Asimilar blade 37 is pivoted on an arm 38, extending from the cam-box 2",the shank portion 39 of said blade being normally held against a stop 40on the arm by a spring 41. On the arm is pivoted a lever 12, whose innerend is turned down and engages a cam 43, project ing from the shank 39of the blade, the free arm of said lever being pressed by a spring at.On the cam-box 2" is pivoted another lever 45, carrying a pin 46 at oneend, which bears against the lever and is adapted to shift said leverwhen the lever 45 is itself shifted by the stud 2l, which moves in aslot 4:7 of said lever. The blade 37 is pivotally mounted andautomatically actuated by the mechanism just described, so that it willbe thrown out of the way of the head of the auxiliarythreadguide whenthe latter is shifted. In view of the foregoing it will be seen that(having first shifted the cam-box 4," so that its cams will when thecarriage moves produce a wave-like movement in the needles of one rowwhich is slightly in advance of the correspond ing movement in theneedles of the other row) by virtue of the fact that the main yarn-guidealways leads when the two yarn-guides are working together as a resultof its being caused to shift at each limit of movement of the carriage,said yarn-guide acts to alternately feed the two rows of needles. Theother yarn-guide is of course doing the same thing. It should beremarked that the yarn is always fed to the needles just back of thecrest of the wave produced therein by the cams. The main yarn-guide isadapted to be used alone, as already indicated, at which time the rangeof movement thereof is between the left-hand pin ll and the pin 9, whichlatter being carried by the part 3 of the arm 1 works in the orifice 10,the pin 12 being removed. By reshifting the cam-box t" it is now broughtto such a position that the two sets of cams are opposite each other, soas to be in proper position relatively to the main yarn-guide. It willbe understood that the usual expedients for causing the cams to bealternately thrown in and out of action relatively to the needle-lugs ortoes should be provided. Vhen the main yarn-guide is thus operatingalone,the detents 141- are turned over out of the way, so as not toengage the trip 6, and in order that said yarn-guide may be oscillated adrag 48, which it carries and which frictionally bears against a rod 49,supported in brackets 50 under the carriage, is provided. At this timetherefore the main thread-guide simply assumes a trailing posi-Projecting from thetion-tl1at is to say, its pivoted end is alwaysforemost in whichever direction the carriage moves.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a knitting-machine, the combination, with the frame, ofknitting-needles arranged in said frame in two corresponding series, acarriage adapted to reciprocate in said frame, means, adapted tosuccessively engage the needles of both series substantiallysimultaneously first from one end and then from the other end of the twoseries, to actuate said needles in effecting the knitting, and separatemeans, pivotally mounted and movable each independently of the other onsaid carriage, for feeding said series of needles each time they areactuated to effect the knitting, said feeding means alternating each tofeed first the one and then the other of said series of needles,substantially as described.

2. In a knitting-machine, the combination, with the frame, ofknitting-needles arranged in said frame in two corresponding series, acarriage adapted to reciprocate over said series of needles, means,adapted to successively engage the needles of each series first from theone and then from the other end of said series of needles, to actuatesaid needles in effecting the knitting, and thread-feeding memberspivotally mounted on the carriage and shiftable thereon in the directionof movement thereof, said members alternating each to feed first the oneand then the other of said series of needles, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a knitting-machine, the combination, with the frame, ofknitting-needles arranged in said frame in two series, thethread-engaging portions of the needles of the two series being movableinto substantial alinement with each other, means, adapted tosuccessively engage the needles of both series first from the one endand then from the other end thereof as the carriage reciprocates and atpoints in the series relatively out of opposition to each other, toactuate said needles in efiecting the knitting, and thread-feedingmembers pivotally mounted on said carriage, one of said members beingshiftable to a position relatively in advance of the other and of theleading actuated needles in each movement of the carriage, substantiallyas described.

at. In a knitting-machine, the combination, with the frame, ofknitting-needles arranged in said frame in two series, thethread-engaging portions of the needles of the two series being movableinto substantial alinement with each other, means, carried by thecarriage, and adapted to successively engage the me dles of both seriesfirst from the one end and then from the other end thereof as the carriage reciprocates and at points in the series relatively out ofopposition to each other, to actuate said needles in efiecting theknitting, thread-feeding members pivotally mounted &

on said carriage, one of said members being shiftable to a positionrelatively in advance of the other, and detents adapted to be engaged bysaid last-named member to shift the same, substantially as described.

5. In ayarn-feeding mechanism for a knitting-machine, the combination,with a suitable support, of a laterally-movable yarnfeeding memberarranged on said support, a lockin g device for said member, movableover the same and adapted to engagethe support on either side of saidmember, and. means, carried bysaid member, for shifting said lookingdevice as said member moves, substantially as described.

6. In a yarn-feeding mechanism fora knitting-machine, the combination,with a suitable support, of a lever fulcrumed on said support and havinga yarn-eyelet, a locking device for said lever, said locking devicebeing pivoted on the lever and one end thereof being movable over thelever and adapted to engage said support on either side of the lever,and means, engaging said lever and the device, for shifting the same,substantially as described.

7. In a knitting-machine, the combination, with the frame, with needlesand their operating mechanism and with detents, of a carriage, ayarn-guide fulcrumed on said carriage, said carriage and the detentsbeing movable the one relatively to the other, a

' locking device for said yarn-guide, said locking device being pivotedon said yarn-guide and one end thereof being movable over the yarn-guideand adapted to engage said support on either side of the yarn-guide, andan oscillatory trip engaging said yarn-guide and the locking device forshifting the same, said trip being adapted to be engaged by the detent,substantially as described. 4

8. In a knitting-machine, the combination, with a suitable support, of ashiftable yarnguide pivoted on said support, another part carried bysaid support and projecting into alinement. with and between the limitsof motion of said yarn-guide, means for shifting the yarn-guide, andmeans for deflecting the yarn-guide away from said part when saidyarn-guide is shifted, substantially as described.

9. In a knitting-machine, the combination, with a suitable support andwith the needles, of a movable part pivoted on said support, aneedle-latch-opening blade movably arranged on said support andprojecting into the path of movement of said part, and means forautomatically moving said blade outof the path of said movable part uponthe actuation thereof, substantially as described.

10. Inaknitting-machine, the combination, with a suitable support andwith the needles, of a shiftable yarn-guide mounted on said support, aneedle-latch-opening blade movably arranged on said support andprojecting into the path of movement of said yarn-guide, said yarn-guidebeing adapted to actuate the blade, and operative connecting meansbetween said yarn-guide and the blade, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand thisatth day of February, 1901.

OTTO LAMWERS.

Witnesses:

JOHN W. STEWARD, JAMES B. NEWTON.

